Location: UCLA Glorya Kaufman Hall
Keynote Presentation by Rory Pullens: Executive Director of Los Angeles Unified School District Arts Education Branch
Moderated by Talia Gibas: Harvard University-- Arts in Education Program; LA County Arts Commission
Panelists
Professor Judy Baca: UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance and Chicano/a Studies; Founder/Artistic Director of SPARC
Professor JoAnn Isken: UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies; Director of STEAM/IMPACT Cohort
Professor Kristin Kusanovich: Santa Clara University Department of Theatre and Dance; President of California Dance Education Association
Arnel Calvario: Board President of Culture Shock LA
Raymundo Baltazar: UCLA World Arts and Cultures/Dance Major and VAPAE Minor
The UCLA Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) Program, in collaboration with the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, and Luskin School of Public Affairs, seeks to bring together multiple publics to continue important discussions about the ever-growing need for access to high quality arts education for all students, specifically youth in the local Los Angeles community. The evening is designed as an extension to the conversations that began with VAPAE’s Public Event “What Is High Quality Arts Education and Why Does It Matter?” led by Harvard University’s Steven Seidel in November of 2015.
Pullens and the panelists will discuss relevant topics in arts education with a decidedly local perspective, including updates on the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) commitment to rebuild its arts education budgets and meet the mandate to position the arts as core curriculum at all LAUSD schools. In addition, the panelists will reflect on the current state of the teaching artist profession and arts credentialing programs, and the ramifications of the newly passed Theatre and Dance Act SB 916.
As the event takes place so soon after our presidential and senate elections, the conversation will describe the political intersections and overlapping concerns of the fields of arts education, community arts, and community engagement. By asking how local and statewide arts programs and initiatives are addressing the needs of their communities and sharing how arts leaders at various sites are evolving their programs in order to address key issues of access and quality, VAPAE will continue its advocacy work towards identifying “best practices” in the arts education field.